Greenspire
Measuring What Matters
Designing for Tomorrow
Measuring What Matters Designing for Tomorrow
Horizon Europe · 48-Month Research & Innovation Project
About the project
GREENSPIRE is a European research and innovation project focused on improving how sustainability is measured, designed, and applied in two high-impact industrial sectors: home textiles and polyurethane (PU) foam products.
The project develops and validates Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) tailored to key product groups such as:
- Bed, bath, table and kitchen textiles (HS-6302)
- Curtains, blinds and decorative textiles (HS-6303)
- Flexible PU foam for mattresses, cushions and pillows (HS 9404)
- Rigid PU foam for PUR/PIR insulation (HS 3901)
By enhancing life-cycle assessment methodologies and sector-specific datasets, GREENSPIRE supports more accurate, transparent, and actionable sustainability metrics across the value chain.
- The Challenge
Two High-Impact Sectors. One Urgent Imperative.
The European Union has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, and the data shows progress is possible — emissions fell 37% below 1990 levels even as GDP grew 68% over the same period. Yet high-impact sectors such as textiles and chemicals remain among the hardest to transform. The textile industry is the EU’s fourth most environmentally damaging consumption category, generating 355 kg of CO₂ equivalent per person annually. The chemical sector consumes over 57 million tonnes of fossil derivatives each year, producing waste streams of which up to 44% is classified as hazardous.
The regulatory framework is moving fast — the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR), the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP), and the EU Green Deal together create an ambitious architecture for sustainable product design. Yet the sector-specific methodologies, data infrastructure, and accessible tools needed to implement this vision remain underdeveloped. GREENSPIRE fills that gap.
Months
Project Duration
Partners
Across 5+ Countries
KER
Delivered for Industry & Policy
Product Categories
Home Textiles & PU Foam
- About GREENSPIRE
A Life Cycle Approach to Product Sustainability
GREENSPIRE — which stands for Gearing towards a Resilient Ecodesign and product Environmental footprint category rules for Sustainable Products In a circular Economy — is a 48-month Horizon Europe research and innovation project developing and validating new Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules (PEFCRs) for two strategically selected product groups: home textiles (bed, table, toilet and kitchen linen; curtains, blinds, and valances) and polyurethane foam products (flexible PU foam for mattresses, cushions, and pillows; rigid PU foam for thermal insulation).
These product groups were selected for their high policy relevance, their significant environmental footprint across life cycle stages, and their strong potential for circular design interventions. GREENSPIRE takes a comprehensive life cycle perspective — from raw material extraction and manufacturing through distribution, use, and end-of-life — and transforms it into actionable, standardised tools and datasets that industry, SMEs, policymakers, and consumers can actually use.
- What We Do
- Result 1
Two New Sectoral PEFCRs
Validated Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for home textiles and PU foam — scientifically sound, stakeholder-supported, and ready for submission to the European Commission.
- Result 2
Sector-Specific LCI Datasets
Life Cycle Inventory datasets tailored to the targeted product groups, filling critical data gaps across materials, production processes, and end-of-life scenarios.
- Result 3
GREENSPIRE Assessment Tool
A free, web-based platform enabling companies in the textile and chemical sectors to calculate their product’s environmental impacts in compliance with the developed PEFCRs
- Result 4
GREENSPIRE Engagement & Information (E&I) Centre
A free web platform and mobile app for policymakers, professional buyers, NGOs, and consumers — translating complex LCA results into clear, actionable sustainability insights, with Digital Product Passport (DPP) compatibility.
- Result 5
Eco-Design Optimisation (EDO) Framework
A multi-objective optimisation framework enabling companies to identify the most beneficial eco-design scenarios for their products, balancing environmental, social, and economic criteria.
- Result 6
GREENSPIRE Toolbox Platform
An integrated web platform bringing together the Assessment Tool, E&I Centre, and EDO Framework — alongside capacity-building resources and a structured pathway for SME adoption of PEF methodologies.
- Result 7
Guidelines, Training & Dissemination
Sector-specific PEFCR guidelines, step-by-step training materials, and targeted dissemination strategies to build stakeholder capacity across industry, policy, and civil society.
- Focus Areas
Two Product Groups. Deep Sectoral Expertise.
Home Textiles
Home textiles — including bed linen, table linen, toilet and kitchen textiles, as well as curtains, blinds, and valances — are among the most resource-intensive everyday consumer products, with significant impacts from raw material cultivation, dyeing and finishing, and end-of-life treatment. GREENSPIRE develops PEFCRs and datasets for key textile subcategories such as spanning cotton, polyester, linen, wool, and synthetic blends, establishing the methodological foundation for sustainable textile procurement, labelling, and design.
Polyurethane Foam
Polyurethane foam products — flexible foams for mattresses, cushions, and pillows, and rigid foams for PUR/PIR thermal insulation — sit at the heart of the EU’s energy efficiency and chemicals agendas. Their production is fossil-intensive, their waste streams complex, and their circular potential largely untapped. GREENSPIRE addresses this by developing validated PEFCRs and LCI datasets for four PU foam subcategories, informing eco-design choices and regulatory impact assessments.
- Partners
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